Staying Balearic but moving far closer to the islands themselves – Efficient Space have Belver Yin`s Luz Bel set for reissue. An album of six-string soaked instrumentals hailing from Salamanca – to the north west of Spain – and originally released on Valencia-based label, Noisex. Wordless songs that could have easily slotted into one of Leo Mas` mid-80s Amnesia warm-ups – played alongside, say, Felt`s Mexican Bandits – or have soundtracked Jose Padilla`s “golden age” Cafe del Mar sunsets – in the company of the Cocteau Twins` Pandora, the epic story-telling sonics of New Order`s Elegia. 

Recorded in 1991, the band at this point consisted of founder / guitarist Pedro Ortega Sanchez, bassist Jose Maria Martinez and a drum machine. Sanchez` overdubs building a wall of Johnny Marr-like jangle. Each line taking its turn to reach for the stars, so that the listener is always ascending, while Martinez` bass-lines descend. The press release cites groups such as The Chameleons, Dif Juz, and The Danse Society, as influences – but The Cure`s Disintegration must also have had a hand in Luz Bel`s creation. Both are kinda of cathedrals of, monuments to, a spirit-stirring sadness. Cascading batteries drive cathartic runs through hanging gardens and forests. Por Una No Clara Rodon is the sort of tune that the cute-but-crazy girl from Catch has dancing in her head. The broken ballerina breaking hearts as bass and machine move with a lop-sided gate, and multi-tracked melodies spin a Robin Guthrie-esque reverie. Reeling around fountains. Eyes opened by the night. Falling in love with Slowdive`s Alison. 

Shoegaze and space-rock rolled into one for romantic, unrequited, teenage superstars, this is indie-angst as aural meditation. Each track an emotionally-charged exercise in mounting melancholic euphoria, that taps into Taoism – tunes into the unplanned rhythms of the universe, the Wu Wei of spontaneous action without action. To produce a musical means of escape. Pop that permits you to simply close your eyes and listen, in order to fly far above the mundane, and dream. 

Efficient Space will reissue Belver Yin`s Luz Bel on July 24th. You can pre-order a copy here and buy yourself a 9-track batch of B-lines that recall New Order and The Cure, fretwork that summons The Smiths, Slowdive, The Cocteaus – and The Cure again. Plus there`s the Durutti Column-esque digital bonus, Tanto Amor Escondido. 

Reference Links

Mexican Bandits
Pandora
Elegia
The Chameleons
Dif Juz
The Danse Society
Disintegration 
Hanging Gardens
A Forest
Catch
Robin Guthrie
Reeling Around Fountains
Eyes Opened By The Night
Alison
Teenage Superstars